


blood of the bond

by jasperartemis



Series: family et al. [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Aromantic Keith, Blade of Marmora Keith, Galra Keith (Voltron), M/M, Miscommunication, One-sided Klance, anxious keith, hunk is the best person ever, i make up some family members for lance!! totally not canon, non-romantic klance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-19
Updated: 2017-10-25
Packaged: 2019-01-20 00:25:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12421260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jasperartemis/pseuds/jasperartemis
Summary: lance is super romantic and keith is super not! set after season 4 so there will be spoilers.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> warning - keith has a lot of self-hate, i overuse italics, cliffhanger!! i will write an ending hopefully...

He has honestly no idea what he’s getting into.  
Keith’s partner, Roxor, taps his mask on and they rappel down the shaft, capes rippling. The mission is only recon, so they slip through the vents, making notes of the positions of guards and adding points on the map. This new cruiser is made of some material that wreaks havoc with their mapping systems, so their usual scans are unreliable at best. Keith pays special attention to the location of the escape pods. If their ship or mission is compromised, it could be a lifesaver.  
They find themselves in the engine room, guarded only by robotic sentries. Roxor’s foot disappears into the vent too late, and the sentries spot him. Keith catches a whisper as Roxor flies down onto the sentries - _Run!_ \- and he runs. He runs to the vertical shaft and shoots upwards with his pack. He doesn’t stop until he’s a good distance from the ship, because he knows what Roxor was about to do.  
In moments, it happens.  
The explosion is soundless in the vacuum, but the light coming off it is blinding. Keith shields his face as best he can. The ship blows brightest around the engine area, but the whole ship is torn to pieces. The new, sensor-blocking material is not as strong as the old stuff. His ship, docked discreetly under one wing of the cruiser, explodes with it. The escape pods are now his only chance.  
He scans the spacecraft’s rubble, no signs of life - goodbye, Roxor. His jetpack is full of fuel and his oxygen levels are high, though, enough for him to search the wreck for a working - something, hopefully an escape pod. The nearest planet has a thick atmosphere, bad for traveling through at high speed wearing only his suit. The wreck is all he has.  
_No Red to help me now_ , he thinks ruefully. _Or Black_. He slams into a piece of metal and bounces off painfully. He’d traveled longer than he thought, a good distance from the ship, and the distance seems ever greater as he moves closer. The wing with escape pods is mostly destroyed, but he spots a whole one and heads toward it.  
His heart sinks. The thruster on the back is smashed in, completely useless, and the other pods are in similar condition. Worse, his jetpack fuel is now low, and he’s used half his oxygen. Keith climbs into the escape pod. He wishes Hunk or Pidge were here. Either one could build a working ship out of safety pins. He could escape if they were here.  
_Not part of Voltron_. He can’t rely on them. But maybe, since there’s a hint of a chance, and he’s got nothing else, he can try.  
_Red_. Keith stretches out his mind. _Red...it’s me, Keith. I used to be your paladin. We had a connection! Help me out here!_ He glances around. No, he’s being stupid. The title of Red Paladin, pilot of the Red Lion, belonged to Lance now.  
_Lance_. He plasters himself to the escape pod. There’s plenty of time to waste. The Blades won’t come. No help will come. He wishes Voltron was here, any of them. Shiro, his best friend. Pidge and Hunk, even Allura, who he’d almost taken for granted before he left the team. Lance, Lance the hero, Lance the loverboy on The Voltron Show. Thoughts of Lance’s outfit on that stupid show cross Keith’s mind, and he laughs. Ironic: he’d die how he lived, thinking gay thoughts.

/

The Red Lion dives towards the burnt, broken cruiser. Lance leans out the lion’s mouth, scoops the unconscious Keith into his arms, and bridal-carries him inside. He does has a flair for the dramatic.

/

_Lance is twelve, helping stamp wedding invitations. His older sister, the bride, is rambling on about her wedding plans. Lance retreats to his imagination, where he’s getting married. He knows the basic procedure - one person wears the fluffy white dress, the other wears the suit, and they kiss in the big church in front of all their families. He knows he’s bisexual (just like his older brother!), he knows he might marry a boy, but then who would wear the dress? Lance giggles to himself when he thinks of that cute boy a few houses down wearing a big fluffy white dress._  
“Hey, keep stamping!” His sister notices he’s daydreaming, slaps his hand gently, a smile on her face to show she’s joking. “Ugh, this is soooo boring,” he says back, classic almost-teenager style, sticking his tongue out. “Then go do something else. Like homework.” So he thunders up the stairs to the bedroom he shares with his two brothers, but he’s not going to do his homework. He’s thinking about how happy his sister is about her husband-to-be, and how he can’t wait until he meets someone who makes him feel that way.

/

“Wake up, Sleeping Beauty!” Keith blinks his eyes open, widening them in shock. “Lance!”  
“Calm down there, Keith. I was just returning from a mission when the Red Lion started talking in my brain again. Then she took off for here, wherever here is. Looks like your mission didn’t go so well, huh?” Lance is combing his fingers through Keith’s hair. Keith’s lying across the pilot’s chair, Lance kneeling next to him on the floor, the lion flying itself.  
“Y-yeah. Roxor blew up the ship when sentries attacked us. He’s, he got blown up too, and the escape pods were broken.” Keith pushes himself into a sitting position.”I called for Red. I called for you, and it worked.” He’s looking at the lion’s dashboard, but speaking to Lance. “You came.”  
“Of course, Keith.” Lance’s face is serious.  
Keith suddenly feels like _no no no_ because unbidden, clear as glass, the thought crosses his mind. He knows something big and important is going to come out of Lance’s mouth next. Almost like dramatic music is playing in the background.  
“Keith? I don’t….I don’t want you to get hurt. When you left the team...I know it hurt all of us, but it hurt me more. You probably think I’m just a ladies’ man, and don’t get me wrong, I am, and they love me -” Keith struggles to suppress a grin, but he knows exactly what Lance is going to say, and he’s terrified.  
“I do love the gentlemen too. Especially the pretty ones. And you’re...really freaking pretty. Like, wow. And your hair is actually really attractive, I just make fun of it to cope!” Lance is rambling, Keith is literally shaking because yes, he thinks Lance is the most beautiful man he’s ever seen, but holy crow, he isn’t the kind of person to be in a relationship and Lance definitely is, he should kiss Lance, he really should, but then Lance will think they’re, like, space boyfriends or something, can Keith do that? He’s on the verge of panicking until Lance snaps him back into reality. “So...are you...going to say something?”  
Lance is still on the floor, a good deal shorter than Keith. Keith stands up. He grabs Lance by the collar and throws him into the pilot’s chair, barely registering the nervous expression on Lance’s face. Keith pushes himself resolutely into Lance’s lap and kisses him.

/

Hours later, they arrive at the Castle. Lance smugly pulls Keith by the arm into the pilot’s deck. Pidge doesn’t even look up when they walk in, but Allura does, and so does Shiro. “Lance! What happened after the mission? You were supposed to come ri-” His eyes fall on Keith, unfortunately disheveled, and he’s not getting away by saying it’s from his mission. _God, that’s embarrassing_ , thinks Keith. Out loud, he manages only a “Hello...guys, everyone.”  
Lance, thank goodness, jumps into it. “Hey everyone! The Red Lion did this weird thing where she told me Keith was in danger and then she flew a really long way over to this blown-up Galra battle cruiser and Keith was on a mission there! I saved him!”  
Pidge looks up in order to deliver a side-eye. “Yeah, and that’s not all you did, huh?”  
Lance blushes. “Well! I, well, yeah!” he incoherently blusters, and Allura smiles knowingly and infuriatingly. “I’m glad you two have picked up on your...connection.”  
Shiro isn’t amused. “Well, we’re all glad Keith is here, but we’re heading out soon. We need to do another performance, and all the lions are needed. Keith, you’re welcome to stay, or we’ll give you a ship if you want to get back to the Blades as soon as possible.” He turns away from Keith again.  
“Thanks, Shiro.” So detached. He misses the connection he and Shiro used to have, before he left the team. Shiro is the leader of Voltron, and Keith is not part of Voltron anymore. He is not part of their family.  
He’ll take a ship and go back to the Blades, where he is wanted.

/

_Lance is ten, at a party with loads of relatives, but all the cousins are six or seven or babies and his siblings are busy with the other grown-ups. Wait - where’s his older brother? And his brother’s friend? The friend is cool. He never makes fun of Lance like other teenagers do, and he even came to Lance’s tenth birthday party. He got him KillBot Phantasm I and played it with him. Lance should go find him, get away from all these babies and grown-ups doing boring stuff._  
He wanders the house, steps loudly on the squeaky stair, heads to his room that he shares with his brother. The friend is probably with his brother, wherever he is. He pushes open the door -  
“Oh, my god, sorry! Sorry, bro!” Lance shuts the door in a big hurry. Gross! This isn’t the first time he’s tried to get into his own room and his brother is kissing some girl. Ew. But...there’s no girl in the house right now…  
Lance’s eyes widen. It’s his brother’s friend, not a girl! A boy! His brother is kissing a boy?  
He’s still standing next to the doorway when his brother barrels out. “Hey, Lancey-lance! Ever learned how to knock?” He pauses at Lance’s expression. “Oh. Hey, bro, come inside for a sec.”  
They sit down on the lower bunk. Lance’s brother’s friend awkwardly flops on the floor. Lance’s brother opens his mouth to speak, but Lance gets there first. “Why are you kissing a boy?”  
“Cuz we like each other. You know, how your older sister likes her boyfriend. I like boys same as other guys like girls.” The friend’s treating Lance like they’re equals. That’s what Lance likes about him. “And I like girls and boys,” adds Lance’s brother. Lance stares at the floor, thinking, then: “You guys aren’t friends, then. Are you getting married?”  
Lance’s brother bursts out laughing. “I’m only sixteen, man, I’m not ready to get married anytime soon. But no, we aren’t friends, we’re boyfriends.”  
Lance turns this over in his mind. “You like girls and boys? Can I like girls and boys, too?”  
They nod, in unison. “‘Course you can. Loads of people do. It’s called being bi, and I’m gay cuz I like boys and I’m a boy,” says the friend.  
“Neat,” says Lance.

/

Allura turns to the team. “I have bad news and good news. I’m afraid the Blade of Marmora’s base has suffered an attack from the Empire, and it has been utterly destroyed, along with many agents.”  
Coran chips in. “Kolivan has made arrangements with us so that he and the survivors will stay in the Castle with us! We’ve got the space, and plans can be made more easily with them around.”  
Allura remains diplomatic, but she doesn’t consider it a better note. “The good news is Keith has survived the attack and will be staying in the Castle with us.”  
Pidge smirks. “Bet Lance’ll be happy about that.”  
Lance, as usual, shoots a look in Pidge’s direction. “Shut up, Pidge!” Strangely, his voice sounds less joking and more angry than usual.  
Hunk’s brow furrows. What’s happened to Lance? Why wouldn’t he be happy about Keith returning? Unless...something happened between them?

/

“Hey, Keith.” Hunk’s shirtsleeves are pushed up over his elbows, his face obscured by goggles. He’s neck-deep in some fancy Galra tech he’s rewiring for the good guys. He surfaces for a moment to look over at Keith.  
“I’ve been looking for a moment to talk with you, actually,” says Hunk. Keith crosses his arms as if in preparation for a blow. “What’s going on with you and Lance?”  
Keith looks to the side, arms still crossed protectively. “I know I hurt him. He didn’t deserve it, and I get it if he doesn’t forgive me. I just -”  
Hunk pushes his goggles up his face, rumpling his hair. “Wait, did you break up with him? Oh, man, no wonder he sounds weird when he talks about you.”  
“Yeah, because he hates me now. And I didn’t dump him, I just...haven’t been seeing him....anymore.”  
Hunk puts an arm around Keith’s shoulders, gently, like he’s comforting an injured wild animal. “Taking a break, huh? You know, Lance still cares about you, a lot. I know he seems angry, but if I know him, and I do, he still cares. If you ever wanna talk about it, I’m here.”  
Keith finds himself leaning into Hunk. He can’t remember the last time someone comforted him like this. He’s been touched, _by Lance_ , he’s not touch-starved, but this is the farthest thing from sexual.  
“I’m not sure I’m ready to talk yet. But. Thanks.” Keith’s eyes are still fixed somewhere to the right of his feet.  
Hunk squeezes him a little, to lighten the mood, and heads back over to the Galra tech. “Now you’re here, can you hold this bit? Pidge isn’t around to be my extra hands.”

/

“Hunk?”  
The Yellow Paladin’s back is to Keith’s, rolling out dough for something that smells cinnamony and comforting. “Oh hey, Keith! It’s kinda late.”  
“I’d say the same to you.” Keith hovers in the doorway, arms bent awkwardly to shove his hands in his jacket pockets.  
“I get nightmares a lot. Baking helps me calm down. You need anything?”  
“Can I help with the baking?”  
Hunk turns to look at him, eyebrows high. “Sure. Cut some thin strips from this dough, like this,” and he slices a strip out of the top. “Cut the extra off the edges and put it in a pile to re-roll.”  
Keith picks up a kitchen knife. “Not that one! Here.” Hunk hands him a utensil with a thick, dull blade. “Use this one.”  
Keith starts to cut slices, cuts until there’s no more dough. Hunk carefully rolls out the pile of scraps. They work without words. Keith picks up the utensil again and cuts more slices.  
“We’ve got enough now.” Hunk speaks for the first time in a quarter of an hour. “Thanks for helping. Now, I got this icing, and we’re gonna spread it on one side of each strip, and roll ‘em up. Space cinnamon rolls.”  
Keith smiles a tiny bit. “Space cinnamon rolls.” He and Hunk pour on the heavenly-smelling icing and roll up the cinnamon rolls. They place the rolls in neat rows on a pan, and Hunk slides it into the oven, all the while not talking.  
Hunk sets a timer. A beat passes. Hunk pulls himself onto the counter, feet swinging like a little kid’s.  
“What happened that made you leave Lance the first time?”  
“What?”  
Hunk’s not looking at Keith, he’s looking at the oven, but his tone and body posture remain nonchalant. “What happened?”

/

_“So I’ve been thinking,” says Lance. “I love this, I really, really love this, but I kinda want something else.”_  
Keith looks up, curiously. “I’m pretty flexible.” Lance chuckles, but presses on. “We see each other only every couple weeks, that’s it. I wanna see you more often.”  
“Believe me, I am in full support of that,” Keith says, pushing himself onto Lance’s lap. “But I don’t have much more free time right now. Lotor’s given us a really good battle plan for liberating a tightly locked down planet, and most of my energy goes right there.”  
“I know that,” says Lance. “I mean, I’m really busy too. I think it would be nice to do something else together. There’s this planet with all these gorgeous lakes. Coran took us swimming there once, and I really want to go back. We could go there together.”  
“Sounds great, Lance. Red’s nice, but this chair isn’t really big enough for us.” Keith yanks his arms out of the sleeves of his suit and pulls it down to his hips, carefully watching Lance’s eyes travel.  
“You have a one track mind,” grins Lance, poking him lightly in the stomach, “I mean as a proper date. It’s got no candles or, I don’t know, mood lighting, but it’s something romantic. Haven’t been able to demonstrate my wonderful boyfriend qualities to you yet.”  
Keith’s heart stops. His breath instantly picks up, and not from excitement. “Uh. Um. Romantic?”  
“Yeah! I’ve been looking forward to treating you to something like that. We are boyfriends, right?”  
“Yeah. ‘Course. Listen, I have to...I have stuff. To do.” Keith struggles to get his clothes back on - why is it so difficult, it’s like a wet swimsuit - “I’ll, I’ll see you later, Lance!” He speeds out of the lion into his own ship, still shoving his arms into his sleeves.  
No! No no no no! _Lance said_ boyfriend _, he said_ romance _, Keith knew this was coming at some point, but he was almost forgetting about it. He was actually starting to think he could enjoy himself like this, have a good relationship, sex with the only strings being the expectation they’d see each other again. It was going so well. Of course Lance wants more, he wants family, he wants to take Keith out on fancy dates, he wants to claim the title of Keith’s boyfriend! Keith couldn’t, can’t give him that, he wants to give him that but it isn’t going to happen._ I’m sorry, Lance _. Keith flies back to Blade headquarters._  
At least there he’s useful.

/

Hunk looks thoughtful. “So Lance wanted to call you his boyfriend, but you didn’t want that, and you freaked out.”  
“Yeah! I don’t even know why I freaked out so much. I never thought of him as my boyfriend, so...I knew he wanted more than just what we were doing, but I didn’t really want to deal with that. Oh quiznack, Lance!” Keith buries his face in his hands, his words muffled, “I am such an ass!”  
“Lance, yeah, Lance is the type of guy to want a nice relationship, having a boyfriend or a girlfriend or a partner, getting married and raising a family, all that stuff.” A sheepish expression crosses Hunk’s face. “Not that I’m saying he’s trying to rush stuff! You don’t have to want those same things!”  
“I know I have commitment issues, Hunk. I don’t like feeling out of control like that. I just messed up so bad -” Keith breaks off, hiding his face again.  
“Have you considered that you just don’t want to be in a romantic relationship?”  
“Of course I don’t. I just said that.”  
“No, you said you have commitment issues. I’m saying something different. Have you considered that you might be aromantic?”  
“What?!” Keith’s eyes go wide one moment and glare the next. “I’m not aromantic! I just don’t...I just....” His shoulders slump. “Oh, no.”  
His eyes well with tears. _Don’t do this_ , his mind protests, _come on, you’ve considered the possibility before, he’s just saying it out loud!_  
Hunk puts an arm around Keith, puts the other arm around him too, as Keith breaks down into sobs. “Shhh...it’s okay, Keith, it’s okay.”  
Keith hates that he’s crying, how emotional he’s getting, in front of someone else! He hates that kind of intimacy! Hunk just holds him. How long had it been since Keith had talked about his feelings? Talked about things that bothered him?  
Thought about himself without being called selfish?

/

Keith slips into Hunk’s room a few nights later.  
“I wanted to thank you for talking with me. Sorry for freaking out.”  
“You don’t have to apologize,” says Hunk, patting the bed next to him. “C’mon, sit down. It’s not the end of the world.”  
“I think you’re right. I am...that. I thought about it before, but I hadn’t heard it out loud.” Keith sits down heavily, crossing his ankles. “When I was younger, there was a guy my age, we were fifteen? He was gorgeous, and the only gay person I knew. Well, I lost my virginity to him. And then after, he said he wanted to go out with me. I said yes. And I hated it. He took me on dates, like we went to dinner once, we went for ice cream, to the mall, super basic stuff. I hated all of it. We had sex a couple other times, I liked that, but I didn’t want to be called his boyfriend or do romantic stuff. The weird bit is, I had other friends I did the same stuff with and I liked it. I just didn’t want to call it a date! So I told myself I wasn’t into him and I broke up with him. And I haven’t had anything with anyone since, until Lance.”  
Hunk nods. “You know, you’re a still a good person, whatever‘s going on, okay? We’re here for you. We support you, buddy. And I'm still here to talk.”  
“Thank you, Hunk.”  
As Keith leaves the room, he notices Lance’s door closing.

/

Lance follows Keith after the mission. Maybe he can catch Keith and talk to him, maybe drag him off to a broom closet if that’s what Keith wants. Just to make him happy, to make them happy again. Keith is gone when Lance looks down the corridor. He must have gone in a door. It’s the hall where all their rooms are! Keith could be waiting in Lance’s room! Smiling in relief, Lance quietly walks down towards his own quarters.  
As he passes Hunk’s door, he hears voices. Hunk’s voice, to be expected, and Keith’s. What is Keith doing in Hunk’s room? Curiosity overpowers him. He tiptoes back to Hunk’s door and leans in towards it.

/

The call blinks up from Keith’s ship comm. Lance. Keith feels like the Blue Lion’s sent ice down his spine. _Oh no_ , Lance must have eavesdropped on his and Hunk’s conversation that night. Lance’s face looks out at him, life-size, from the projected screen, and Keith must have conveyed his sheer terror in his expression, because Lance looks scared too.  
“Keith. No, Keith, hear me out, listen to me.” Keith’s shaking his head, _no no no no_ , he swears he just needs some more time - Lance doesn’t get it - Keith’s not going to be selfish, he doesn’t need to be told he is, not again, not another time! Hunk was wrong when he said Keith was - “Keith!” He’s a good person, he can love, he can love -  
“I know you’re aromantic.” Lance’s face is invisible because Keith pulls his hood over his head, slams his mask on with shaking hands, he needs to leave, he needs to run -  
“I d -” Keith’s gone, down the hall, whatever Lance is saying doesn’t matter, it’s just him breaking up with Keith, Keith the monster who left Lance first because he’s selfish and can’t handle the truth, why isn’t it a relief that Lance is finally ending it -  
The truth is that he doesn’t love Lance like Lance loves him, but he still loves Lance. 


	2. Chapter 2

Kolivan towers several feet over Coran, making his growl even more intimidating. “Where is Keith?”  
“I swear, I have no idea! I’m not exactly his boss, am I?” Coran squeaks. Kolivan’s eyes narrow.  
“You are not. I am. This is not appropriate behavior for an agent of Marmora. He must report back to me within this quintant, or be dismissed from the Blade’s ranks.”  
“Oh dear,” says Coran, his voice showing relief that Kolivan’s anger was no longer focused on him. “Well, I’ve tried to send a message to the escape pod, but there’s been no response. I only imagine something horrible has happened to him.”  
“Or he’s run away,” muses Kolivan, striding around the room. “Who else on this ship may know information pertaining to his location?”  
“I’d suppose Hunk and Lance would know, if anyone. Ask them.”  
Coran sighs as Kolivan departs, feeling only a little sorry about Lance and Hunk’s impending interrogation.

/

Lance dangles by his dressing gown’s collar, desperately waving his arms and kicking. “What the hell is this for?!”  
“Cease your squirming, paladin. Where is Keith?”  
“He took an escape pod and ran off! That’s all I know! Please let me go!” Lance redoubles his efforts to free himself, to no avail.   
“Dude, what’s going on here?” Hunk appears in Lance’s doorway. “Kolivan, put him down!”  
The Galra lets go of the collar. Lance plummets to the ground and lands in a groaning heap. “Yellow Paladin, you are just the person I wish to see.”  
Hunk swallows but maintains eye contact. “I’m here. What do you want?”  
“What is the location of Keith?”  
“Keith? He took an escape pod and ran off.”   
Kolivan is not the sort to roll his eyes, but if he was, he definitely would at this point. “I know that. Where did he run to?”  
Hunk frowns. “I don’t- wait. Maybe I do.” He pulls a screen out of his pocket and types furiously. He shoves it in Kolivan’s face. “Here. Abelone. It’s a rainforest planet a jump away. Coran took us there a while ago as an apology for making us do the Voltron Show, it’s got gorgeous lakes and waterfalls, perfect for swimming.”  
“Why would Keith go there?”  
“Just a hunch.” Lance lifts himself from the floor, shoots Hunk a look of mixed understanding and worry. He mouths, _“He told you, didn’t he?”_ Hunk nods, a movement Kolivan doesn’t register. The Galra strides out of the room without thanking Hunk for the information.  
As soon as Kolivan’s out the door, Hunk turns to Lance. “Follow him. Go find Keith. He could be hurt!”  
“Hunk, I don’t think Keith wants to see me right now,” says Lance, shoulders hunching.   
“What makes you think that?” Hunk’s concern turns to confusion.  
“I- I called him. He wasn’t running away, I’m pretty sure he was taking the Keith equivalent of a calming stroll, but I called his ship and told him I overheard the conversation you guys had last night.”  
Hunk slaps his forehead. “Oh, Lance.”  
“He needed to know I knew! And that I still loved him!” Lance’s face grew serious. “Because I do. And he’s gonna go do something risky, just because he thinks I’m angry at him. I didn’t even get to tell him anything beyond ‘I heard you’re-’”  
Hunk cuts him off with a colossal sigh. “Oh, _Lance_. You messed this up, buddy. Now you really have to go follow him.”  
Lance decides in moments. “Okay. I will.”

/

“I’ll find him.”  
“Accepted.” Kolivan doesn’t even turn, walking in such great strides that Lance struggles to keep up. “Wait, what?”  
“I do not wish to risk my agents in following Keith on a fool’s errand. We are already depleted from the attack on our base.”  
Lance stops for a moment, hands on his knees, panting. “That was easier than I thought,” he mutters to himself, before shouting at Kolivan’s back, “I’ll get him, sir!”   
He’ll take the Red Lion. _Hold on, Keith. I’ve got you._

/

The thick foliage of Abelone prevents Lance from seeing more than a dense sea of green. He squints at the handwritten directions Coran gave him, his eyes roaming for landmarks, but he only sees green and more green. His eye suddenly catches a flash of blue. There! He turns Red and descends towards the forest canopy and the sparkling water.  
The waterfalls bubble cheerfully, a sharp contrast to the dented Altean escape pod half-covered in fallen leaves and lying on its side. The white paint is dirty and scratched from mud and rocks. Lance lands with a sinking feeling near the ship.  
Red opens its mouth and Lance steps out. “Keith?” he calls tentatively, waits for an answer. “Keith, where are you?”  
The water runs on without a response.  
Lance pulls off his helmet, sets it in Red’s mouth, and hops into the pool. His feet tread the cool water. He ducks under the surface and looks around - nothing but fish, rocks, and weeds. No Keith. He swims closer to the waterfall.  
He calls out for Keith again, but still no response comes. Lance climbs out of the water and approaches the falls from the side. A set of footprints is imprinted on the dry rocks from wet boots. The footprints disappear as they approach the falls and the rocks become damp. There are no footprints back. The path seems almost to disappear behind the falls.  
Lance inhales and steps one foot into the footprint. One slow step at a time, he edges closer along the slippery rocks until he’s a foot away from the falls.  
“Here goes nothing.” Lance holds his breath and pushes through the waterfall.  
He enters a small cave. The soaking-wet, dark shape inside is obviously Keith. As Lance steps forward, Keith turns to him. His mouth forms an _o_ of shock as he sees Lance. Keith’s clothes are soaked, his hair matted against his head and nearly covering his eyes. His knees are drawn into his chest.  
“I found you.” Lance feels sick at the expression on Keith’s face, shame and anger and fear. “I’ve been looking all over! I need to talk to you!”  
“What do you want, Lance?” Keith says hollowly. “To break up with me for real? To give me a lecture on how I’m selfish for running off?”  
Lance tries to speak, but Keith stands up and moves farther back into the cave, away from him. “No. I don’t need to be told that anymore. Every time I do anything, _anything_ , I’m punished for it. Since I was a little kid. I thought you people were different, that I actually had family, but Shiro hates me now and you hate me now and the whole team hates that I couldn’t do enough for them!” Keith’s voice rises in pitch and volume. “And I’m fucking sick of it! I went to the Blades and all I get is Kolivan telling me that I’m compromising the mission and endangering everyone! I tried to do something _worth_ something by breaking the barrier, and I almost died for nothing when Lotor beat me to it! I can’t do anything right! I almost _died_ , and still nobody cared!”  
Lance feels tears on his face, wants to say something to make Keith understand he doesn’t hate him, to comfort him, but Keith can’t stop. “I was doing something good with my life when we were together! But I couldn’t even handle a simple relationship! I just had to go and fuck it up by not being _normal!_ ” With the last word, Keith collapses on the ground, shaking. Normally, Lance would have made fun of the dramatics, but he can’t fathom doing it now. He kneels and stretches a hand out towards Keith.  
“I’m not here to say anything like that, Keith. I - I had no idea you felt like that. I’m so sorry that I ever made you feel that way.” He drops his head. “I’m here to apologize for listening to your private conversation with Hunk, and for making you feel uncomfortable when I mentioned adding something to our relationship.”  
Keith shoves some hair out of his eyes, but doesn’t speak. Lance continues. “I love you, Keith. I know you don’t love me the exact same way. But that doesn’t even matter to me. I want you to be a part of my family. I don’t care how that happens, but I want you to be part of our family.”  
Keith’s still crying, silently. Lance shuffles closer on his knees and wraps his arms around Keith, concentrating on putting as much comfort and love in the hug as he can possibly muster. Keith melts in his arms, doesn’t manage to hug Lance back but is clinging onto Lance’s arm just as tightly as Lance’s arm clings to him.   
They sit there for a long while. Finally, Keith speaks again. “I love you too, Lance.”  
They sit there for a longer while, listening, to no sound but the sound of the waterfall. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> someone give that boy a hug. thanks lance  
> yeah i think i got more chapters planned out but it'll be a while


End file.
